Slaying Suspect To Get $55,000 For Work Injury

MELBOURNE — County officials will pay $55,000 this month to settle a workers' compensation claim by Charles DiGristine, who was charged recently in the fatal shooting of a Titusville police officer.

A workers' compensation judge in Satellite Beach approved the lump-sum settlement Tuesday for DiGristine's lost wages after Brevard County commissioners voted to resolve the 8-year-old case.

The judge, John Paul Jones, will send out the order today to parties involved in the case and DiGristine immediately will be paid, a spokeswoman in Jones' office said.

DiGristine, 58, remains under house arrest in Titusville until his trial in June on charges of shooting Titusville police Officer Stephen House on Feb. 15. House was killed as he and seven other officers stormed DiGristine's house in search of drugs and stolen property.

In September 1981, DiGristine worked for the county as a painter and fell off a ladder when a burst of pressure from a paint gun caused him to lose his balance, records show. The fall permanently damaged his back, records show.

Since the injury, he has received $120,470.95 from the county for lost wages and medical expenses. He now also receives Social Security disability, said his attorney, Daniel Faherty.

Faherty said the medical expenses have mostly been for ''pain management and stress management-type therapy.''

DiGristine did not undergo surgery to correct the injury but slumps slightly forward because of it, Faherty said.

Last month, DiGristine asked the county for one lump sum to cover all future lost wages. The $55,000 settlement does not include future medical bills, which must be paid by the county under state law, said county risk manager Jeanette Fresneda.

Faherty would not say if DiGristine asked for the settlement to cover expenses for the pending murder trial but added that the timing ''isn't coincidental.''

DiGristine was watching television in his bedroom Feb. 15 when the Titusville police officers tossed concussion grenades into the house and stormed in. DiGristine said he thought intruders were ransacking his house.

Police confiscated less than 1 ounce of marijuana, about a dozen marijuana plants, traces of cocaine and a .25-caliber pistol from the house. The trial is set for June 12 before Circuit Judge Charles Harris in Titusville.

DiGristine's son, Joey, 16, also was charged with possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and cultivation of marijuana.